Why I Do This

This post may be more for me than any one else.

I need to remind myself why I am on this journey. Why I deliberately take time away from my daughter each day to work out. Why I skip the dessert at the party. Why I pass up the rolls at Texas Roadhouse (um which is so incredibly hard to do). Why I keep the pants that are too small in my closet.

I do this because I want to be there for this little girl.

I want to show her that when you put your mind to something you can achieve it. 

That no matter how long it takes to reach your goal if you keep working at it you can get there.

I want to show her what not giving up looks like.

Giving up is so easy. Not going to the gym is easy. Eating whatever you want is easy. I want to show her that what comes easy isn't always what is best. I want to show her how to fight for what she wants. 

More than anything though, I want her to be proud of me.

I want to be proud of me.

First 5K

I'm a little late in posting this (only a week but whose counting).

I tend to give into peer pressure when the pressure is for something good. Like signing up for 2 5K's and getting a pair of shoes. I mean why wouldn't you give into your friends when they tell you that you should do this with them.

While I was wogging looking for that first mile I was thinking to myself, why oh why did I let them talk me into this. I'm not a runner. I despise running and basically any cardio. I must have bad friends.

Rigggghhhhhhhhtttttt

These "bad friends" are actually some of the best friends. They knew I could do it before I thought I could do it.

These friends were waiting for me and ran the last bit with me again cheering me on.

These friends pushed me to do something I had never done and probably would never do had they not pressured me into it.

The course which was hilly. I mean really hilly. I might also add that it was incredibly cold

I'm so glad they convinced me to do this

We got medals and shirts. Made it that much better

So while I wanted to quit multiple times I kept going. I would run for a certain distance and then walk. I would try and catch up to people a head of me and once I passed them I wouldn't let me pass me again.

Something that I thought was just plain awesome was how encouraging everyone is. At this race you could run a 5k, 10k or 15k. People running the 10 and 15 would run by and just say encouraging words. Good job, keep it up, you are doing great. Seriously amazing.

So now that I have a benchmark I hope to do better.

I will do better.

It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile.

I apologize.

If you want to read about why I've been absent you can read about it here. I'm not afraid to share my story I just simply don't feel like rehashing it over here.

Anyways, I've given myself enough time.

I have to get back on the the wagon. I was doing so good until it happened.

I can do it and I know I will do it.

Tomorrow starts a new day. All it takes is one foot in front of the other. Here we go.

Motivational Monday: Seeing Progress

Doing a new link-up for Monday, Motivational Monday from Kelsey at Random Randts. She is blogger I stumbled upon through Assignment Amanda.

Anyhoo...

Starting on January 5th I started tracking what went in my mouth, cleaning up what went in my mouth and busting my butt at the gym.  I mean like I have been doing a few 2x a days which is something I haven't done in almost a year. As weird as it sounds, it feels so good! I have been on point with my eating and it just keeps fueling my fire. My sugary chocolatey cravings have gone to the wayside. 

I am also participating in a contest at my gym and the grand prize is $450! So another big motivator. Progress has been good and I cannot wait to see how the leader board changes after this week. I dropped 9 inches and 2.6lbs.

These types of weeks continue 

So motivated to keep going and see what this week brings!

Obligatory

I honestly cannot believe that 2014 is over. 

Like in less than 48 hours we will enter a new year. 

A new year with all the possibilities in the world. 

A fresh clean slate to mark however we want.

A year to continue what we started in 2014.

A  few weeks ago I was working out with my girls and it was just the 3 of us and we tend to chat because well to be stereotypical we are woman but more importantly we are friends. We discussed how we are no where near where we were weight wise during a different time of the year.

That got me thinking...

No I'm not where I was but I am not where I started. Cliche yes but it is true!

So bring on 2015 because I can only get better!

When You Miss the Gym

Again this week I am hooking up with the lovely Aubrey at ALG, Uninterrupted 

and her Friday link-up.

This week was a bad week in terms of getting to the gym. Usually I have no problem getting up at 4:25 every morning and heading to the gym for an hour sweat sesh on the spin bikes or total body.  Like I need that morning wake up to get me going and get through the day. 

This week though

I made it 1 day

Seriously, 1 day!

How pathetic right????

However, I am just going to chalk it up to a bad week and move on. There is a class tomorrow that **fingers crossed** Reagan has a good night of sleep which means I do and I get my butt to class!

I will say, old Megan may have crawled back in her hole until the first of the year because I fell off the wagon. Instead I just brush it off and move on. There is no point in dwelling in the past. What's done is done and we can't go back in fix it. 

So take that crappy week of not making it to the gym, you ain't got nothin on me!

Holiday Weight Gain

No no no Tiger not those kind of gains. I'm talking about the candy jar, candy platter, cookie and fudge kind of gains.

Ahh yes, the holidays. An absolutely amazing time of year where food flows like lava from a volcano and if grandma doesn't think you have eaten enough she will stack more on your plate amazing time of year.

But what do you do if you are on a weight loss journey?

Can we all go to an island where we avoid the holiday food stuffings and keep on going with out journeys?

Anybody out there have an island we can borrow? No, well there goes that idea.

So how do you make it through the holidays and not lose all the work you have put in the other 9 months?

MODERATION MODERATION MODERATION MODERATION

Oh and don't quit your meal plan and your work out schedule.

If you are looking for a structured plan the Advocare 24 Day Challenge is a great way to keep your meals in check and continues with the structure you have the other 9 months out of the year.  Shoot me an e-mail if you want more info, I would love to help you not have post holiday blues.

I'm participating in the boot camp at our gym. It is a you vs you challenge. No better competition than yourself.

So I will leave you with this parting thought.